Privateer Press

Privateer Quest
has announced
a new hybrid miniatures board game set in the popular Iron Kingdoms Universe, Riot
Quest. In Riot Quest, the battle for the Iron Kingdoms has gone very…
badly. You see, “humanity in the Iron Kingdoms was never really supposed to
have access to magic. Humans aren’t the most careful or responsible creatures.”
So things went the way they often do, and the world has been destroyed.
Luckily, some scrappy survivors remain to battle in this apocalypse, collect
bounties, and loot the spoils of war. “You’ll need a crackerjack crew, gobs of
gear, and lots of love for the chaos of battle if you’re going to score the
best leftover loot in the land.”

The Riot Quest Starter Box comes
with board, tokens, 15 custom dice, 32 cards, and 5 hobby miniatures with stat
cards to start the fight. Balthazar Bamfist is appropriately named for him job.
Gubbin, the demolitions expert may be just a little too crazy to carry all that
explosives. Sir Dreyfuss is a powerful, technological knight, while Dez is the
token big guy with a bazooka. Finally, Eiryss Fortune Hunter of Ios is a dark,
mysterious rogue with powers untold.

In Riot
Quest, players take their gang of scavengers into the ruins, fighting and
looting. Bounty Cards dictate specific conditions in the arena, as well as how
to claim the cards for points. A constant market of refilling cards ensures a
unique, varied game each time. Game play revolves around a set of custom dice,
the stats of the characters, and whatever gear the players can steal and equip.
Look for the Riot Quest Starter Box at your FLGS in August 2019, as well as the
extra miniature, Riot Quest: J.A.I.M.s (Jacobsen’s Amazing Iron Maiden) Guard.
For more information, keep an eye on the Privateer
Press website.

Level 7 [Omega Protocol] has been out of print since 2016 and its constant appearances on the Dice Tower’s Top 10 lists can only have contributed to this game vanishing from shelves since then. Privateer Press have chosen to seek funding on Kickstarter to gauge demand for the game instead of releasing it through traditional channels. Considering the project has already achieved over 75% of its funding goal on its first day it should meet its funding goal.

“LEVEL 7 is a sinister science fiction setting where nefarious conspiracies conceal the government’s collaboration deep within an underground research facility with an unspeakable alien menace. Officially, the top-secret military base doesn’t exist. There is no record of it: no blueprints, no photographs, no credible accounts. Rumors persist, but no one has ever found it. And those who have dared to look have disappeared… Now overrun with swarms of monstrous genetic creations led by their nefarious alien overseers, the underground facility of Subterra Bravo is the epicenter of an unfathomable government conspiracy—one that must be kept secret at all costs. To cover up the truth, the shadowy agency in charge of the operation has initiated the Omega Protocol, dispatching an elite team of commandos to retake Subterra Bravo and eradicate all evidence of the sinister creatures within. But the threat these creatures and their alien overlords pose may be far greater than anyone can possibly imagine.”[source]

Level 7 [Omega Protocol] was designed by Will Schoonover (who also designed the other Level 7 series of games), supports 2-6 players, aged 14+, and plays in roughly 60-90 mins. Its a semi-cooperative, tactical miniatures game where players take on the role of a fire team of highly trained commandos who go up against a player, called the overseer, who controls a swarm of inhuman creatures which have token over Subterra Bravo, a U.S. government facility. Both the commandos and the overseer control a resource called adrenaline. Commandos use adrenaline to perform heroic actions, while the overseer uses it fortify their forces. Players can play the game as a campaign of nine missions or the individual missions themselves. The Extreme Prejudice expansion and the Kickstarter specific bonus content adds new creatures, characters, missions, and game cards.

If Kickstarter backers have the original game they can opt to get only the updated content of the 2nd edition, or backers can get the fully update core game, or all content released which includes the expansion.

Privateer Press, the company behind Hordes and Warmachine, have opened ticket sales to their yearly Lock and Load Gamefest in Bellevue, Washington. Like with other conventions put on by a single board game company, this event will be all about Privateer Press and it’s current and new releases. Not much has been revealed yet on what will be happening at this year’s event, but you can bet they will aim to make it even better than previous years. One thing to look forward to is some kind of event for Warmachine, which is celebrating it’s 15th year since it’s release in 2003. To find out more, and to get your badge, you can head on over to Privateer Press’ website.

Subscription boxes are exploding; Loot Crate, Japan Crate, Hasbro Gaming Crate, Vintage Bead Box and more. Each one offering curated contents based on the theme that you choose, and so Privateer Press wants to get in on the action. This month they are launching the MiniCrate, a subscription box service where they will send you a limited edition custom mini every month, along with a collector’s card showing concept sketches. Standard subscriptions start at $17 per month, and 6 month VIP subscriptions run $99 but come with the added bonus of an additional mini every 6 months. They also mention that while the figures can be used in Privateer Press games, it’s main focus is to provide miniatures for the collectors and hobbyists of miniatures in general. You can read more about the MiniCrates via their press release, or head to the MiniCrate website to sign up for the first box arriving in October.

As a fan of games like Descent and Level 7 Omega Protocol, I am keenly aware of the large amount of down time between games as you tear down the current map and then build the next one. Fantasy Flight Games recognizes this as well and have therefore released three skirmish mode playmats to be used with Imperial Assault so as to reduce said setup time considerably. The three maps they have are Training Ground, Nelvaanian War Zone, and Coruscant Landfill. These mats are awesome in that they have the entire map printed in full scale, so you don’t need to get out any of the tiles at all. It also has a convenient list of all the tokens you will need, as well as great art indicating which side of the map belongs to which faction.

Are these mats necessary to play the game? Not at all, but if you play skirmish mode a lot they might be worth the investment for the savings in time. You can head on over to the FFG website to check them out, or head to you favorite game store to buy them.

Privateer president Sherry Yeary thanked the company’s distributors for their support of the program, but warned that change would take some time. “We greatly appreciate the support and commitment to the health of brick-and-mortar retailers shown by our North American distribution partners,” she said. “Change won’t happen overnight, and eliminating free rider practices will be an ongoing issue that will take time and a united effort between publishers and distributors to overcome, but we have already seen the positive effect of instituting this policy, and we remain committed to its success, no matter what it takes.”

Privateer Press has listed at 9 new distributors with launch kits being completely sold out.

Privateer Press has announced the Kickstarter for their new cooperative adventure for 2-4 players, Widower’s Wood. In this tabletop adventure board game with miniatures, players take on the role of monsters, inhabitants of the swamp, working together to survive the horrors of the impending doom. The game is set in the dark wilderness of the Iron Kingdoms, and “the inhabitants of Widower’s Wood find themselves trapped in the grim maw of ghoulish horrors, their last hope is a team of ravenous monsters with the cunning and ferocity to bite back.”

The Kickstarter project for Widower’s Wood will run until March 19, 2016. A copy of the game will include:

Campaign Guide with 7 Linked Adventures

43 Plastic Figures

4 Hero Character Sheets

202 Cards

202 Tokens and Markers

8 Dice

16 Map Tiles

Game Board

Villain Reference Sheet

Rulebook

A German edition of the game will also be available through the Kickstarter via Privateer Press’ partnership with Ulisses Spiele.

Widower’s Wood is for 2-4 players ages 14 and up and plays in 60-120 minutes. For more information on this game and to support the Kickstarter, visit the Kickstarter page here.

Privateer Press has announced that WARMACHINE: Tactics full version is now available on Steam.

WARMACHINE: Tactics now includes a full 20-mission single player campaign in addition to its robust skirmish and multiplayer modes.

This Steam version is based on the tabletop miniatures game by the same name. It is a turn-based, squad-level strategy game for PC and MAC. If you already own the tabletop version, perhaps you can think of this Steam game as a way to practice your strategies. Improving your skills against the computer or others online can only benefit you.

Privateer Press recently released Zombies Keep Out and is now available at retail locations.

Zombies Keep Out is a new cooperative board game for 1–6 players in which players act as fearless goblin tinkerers holed up in their workshop, frantically constructing zany contraptions to repel endless waves of attacking undead. Protect your workshop, but whatever you do, don’t get bit!

Designed by David Carl (Warmachine: High Command & Heap), Zombies Keep Out includes the following components:

In addition to our Keynote broadcast, we’ll also be streaming live coverage of the Iron Gauntlet Qualifier Final from TempleCon on Sunday at noon (EST).
These videos will also be available on-demand on our Twitch channelafter the live broadcasts.